Angels 8, Twins 2

Article by: La Velle E. Neal III

Star Tribune

April 19, 2006 - 12:07 AM

Carlos Silva is passionate about baseball. It shows up in different ways. The Twins righthander showed it after Tuesday's 8-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels by slamming a chair in the clubhouse before entering the trainer's room.

His gave up eight runs over 82/3 innings on 12 hits -- a pretty big hint as to why he was upset.

But when he re-emerged to speak with reporters, his passion came out in another way.

"I feel good, but the numbers don't show that," he said. "Before the game, I was throwing in the bullpen and I was feeling so good and had a good command with my pitches. Sometimes I throw very good pitches and they still got hits so ... I fight as hard as I can to win."

Silva added: "It's like everything. When I cross the line, I give everything to help my team win. It's like it's frustrating when you do all you can and still give up eight runs. You feel like crap, you know."

Silva is a fast-working, groundball-inducing machine, a family-friendly pitcher because parents can get their kids home by 10 p.m. the nights he starts. The Silva on Tuesday was different. He still worked fast, but he gave up flyballs. He gave up line drives -- plenty of them.

However, the Twins didn't think Silva threw as bad as his line shows. "It just didn't work out for us," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "It just kinda got away from us at the end."

The end came with two outs in the ninth, when Gardenhire removed Silva from the game. Silva then barked at home plate umpire Jerry Meals about some ball-strike calls as he walked toward the dugout, and Meals ejected him.

Gardenhire threw his cap on the ground and yelled at Meals, leading to his 21st career ejection.

The Twins might have been upset with some calls, but Silva also gave credit to Angels hitters.

Los Angeles won for only the second time in its past six games, getting a spark from the top two batters in the order, Chone Figgins (three hits, including a two-run homer and three RBI) and Orlando Cabrera (three hits, two RBI). After winning five consecutive games, the Twins have lost two in a row to fall back under .500 at 6-7.

"When you know you have your stuff and nothing is happening, it's hard," Silva said.

Through seven innings, Silva had seven groundball outs and 12 flyball outs. That is not his style, nor the style of any pitcher who relies on a sinking fastball. But the Twins say they believed Los Angeles hit some good pitches and laid off Silva's sinkers that dropped out of the strike zone.

Meanwhile, Angels righthander Kelvim Escobar struck out 10 over 62/3 innings. He surprised Twins hitters several times with breaking balls that came back over the plate for strikes.

The Twins' offensive highlight might have been a line single to left by Rondell White in the sixth. White, who is hitting .098 and was dropped to seventh in the batting order, received a standing ovation.

"Those pitches he was throwing," Silva said of Escobar, "I don't think any offense could hit that guy. He was throwing so many nasty pitches."